a. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to evaluating system integrity, and more particularly, to determining when to replace a system's filter.
b. Background of Invention
Dust and debris may collect on the face of a device or system such as, for example, a computer server. Thus, air flow through the chassis of a system such as the computer server may become impeded. This reduced air flow in turn may lead to more power being consumed cooling the system. For example, the speed or frequency of operation of the cooling fan may be increased to compensate for the drop in an air flow and subsequent temperature increase associated with the system.
More specifically, dust and debris may accumulate on one or more filters within the chassis of the system, causing air flow through these filters to become impeded. Thus, additional power is consumed to cool the system. Filters may, however, often be changed based on timing (e.g., monthly, bi-annually, etc.) and the environmental conditions (e.g., high or low debris within the air) under which the system is operating.